Electronic Medical Records for (Visceral) Medicine: An Overview of the Current Status and Prospects

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Electronic medical records (EMRs) offer key advantages over analog documentation in healthcare. In addition to providing details about current and past treatments, EMRs enable clear and traceable documentation regardless of the location. This supports evidence-based, multi-professional treatment and leads to more efficient healthcare. However, there are still several challenges regarding the use of EMRs. Understanding these challenges is essential to improve healthcare. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the current state of EMRs in the field of visceral medicine, to describe the future prospects in this field, and to highlight some of the challenges that need to be faced. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> The benefits of EMRs are manifold and particularly pronounced in the area of quality assurance and improvement of communication not only between different healthcare professionals but also between physicians and patients. Besides the danger of medical errors, the health consequences for the users (cognitive load) arise from poor usability or a system that does not fit into the real world. Involving users in the development of EMRs in the sense of participatory design can be helpful here. The use of EMRs in practice together with patients should be accompanied by training to ensure optimal outcomes in terms of shared decision-making. <b><i>Key Message:</i></b> EMRs offer a variety of benefits. However, it is critical to consider user involvement, setting specificity, and user training during development, implementation, and use in order to minimize unintended consequences.

What Are the Barriers to the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records? A Review of Recent Studies

“…Triggers for the increased adoption of electronic medical records are various benefits compared to paper-based medical records (Kernebeck et al, 2021), improving service quality, increasing patient satisfaction, and reducing clinical errors (Schenarts & Schenarts, 2012). However, it is important to understand the various obstacles that may be encountered in the electronic medical records implementation (Dornan et al, 2019).…”

Digital Communication Strategies in Visceral Medicine

“…In the future, this will enable efficient stratification, allocation of health system resources, and highquality care for the large number of patients [7]. These aspects are extensively examined by Kernebeck and colleagues [8] in their review on electronic health records. Naumann et al [9] further describe the integration of these technologies into everyday clinical practice in routine outpatient patient care.…”